My Husband's Not Gay and the Dangers of Gay Conversion Therapy

January 12, 2015 2:49 PM

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The Learning Channel (TLC) aired a new show Sunday called "My Husband's Not Gay", a one-hour special that depicts four men who are attracted to men but are married to women. This show has caused outrage among gay advocacy groups who claim that TLC is supporting the concept of "gay conversion therapy," a series of therapeutic techniques designed to alter gay or lesbian people's sexuality. In fact, gay conversion therapy is an unproven therapeutic technique that not only has been condemned by major professional groups but also risks perpetuating the damaging stigma facing gay people.

Gay conversion therapy developed when the mental health field labeled homosexuality as a mental disorder. In 1952, the American Psychological Association (APA) published the first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), with homosexuality included in the list. Unsubstantiated th...